Spoofing Is The New Way Scammers Could Be Stealing Your Information [VIDEO]

You may have noticed calls recently that appear to be coming from the same area code you live in, and may have the same first few digits of your phone number. This is the latest way scammers are getting your information. NBC Nightly News reports that criminals are learning that you are more likely to answer your phone if they call from a "local number". I know this is true for me, my cell phone number is on my business cards, and I give it out quite often. If I see a local number calling me I assume it is someone that has my card, or that I have spoken with before.

What is scary, is criminals are now finding a way to mimic phone numbers. It may look like my best friend is calling me, but it is actually a scammer using her phone number. As an example shown in the video, a stranger was able to get a social security number from someone by posing as her son.

The FCC is trying to stop this new trend. They are empowering phone companies to block robo-calls from numbers that appear to be local. They are also working with the industry to develop more tech solutions to stop this problem.

If you want immediate help, there are a couple of apps available to help with this problem, one of them being True Caller. It blocks robo-calls and spammers. The best advice is, of course, to not give information over the phone to anyone, but we have all done it at some point.